Vehicle-fender.



J. H. JENKINS. VEHICLE FENDER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 11,1913.

1,088,426, Patented Feb 24,1914.

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v z wt 13 COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH 60., WASHINGTON D c JOHN H. JENKINS, OFJACKSON, MISSOURI.

VEHICLE-FENDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 24, 1914:.

Application filed July 11, 1913. Serial No. 778,481.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, JoI-IN H. JENKINS, acitizen of the United States, residin in Jackson, in the county of CapeGirar can and State of Missouri, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Vehicle-Fem ders, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to fenders, and more particularly to those of thedrop scoop type.

It has for its principal objects to produce a safety device which isapplicable to street and other railway cars and also to automobiles; toprovide for automatically dropping the scoop or pick-up member; tosimplify the construction; and to attain certain advantages which willhereinafter more fully appear.

The invention consists in the parts and in the arrangements andcombinations of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing which forms part of this specification, andwherein like symbols refer to like parts wherever they occur,Figure 1 isa top plan View of av fender illustrating an embodiment of theinvention; Fig. 2 is a section through the fender substantially on theline 2-2 of Fig. 1, a portion of a car platform being also shown insection in conjunction therewith; and Fig. 3 is a section on an enlargedscale, taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

As shown in the drawing, the fender is mounted under the platform of anordinary street car. A transverse supporting bar or plate 1 is providedat its ends with bracket extensions 2 which are bolted to the under sideof the car adjacent to the front truck 8. Swiveled on the portions 4 ofsaid bracket extensions 2 are apair of forwardly extending bars or siderails 5. These members 5 are respectively hinged, as at 6. at theirouter ends to a pair of outwardly bowed connecting toggle members 7which are hinged at their meeting ends, as by a rule joint 8. The siderails 5 are provided intermediate their ends with upstanding lugs 9which are perforated so that the ends of a spring 10 may be securedthereto.

The function of the spring 10 is to pull the two side rails 5 towardeach other and to yieldingly hold them in normal position; and thetoggle members 7 are arranged so that, normally, said side rails aresubstantially parallel. The toggle members being bowed substantially asshown, the side rails are spread as the toggle members are swunginwardly.

Extending forwardly from the transverse supporting bar 1 are two lugs1.1 to which a rod 12 is attached. Hinged on this rod, as by perforatedlugs 13, is a rectangular scoop frame 14. This frame has mounted thereona net or other suitable fabric bottom 15; and at its outer end it isprovided with corner extensions 16 on which roller 17 is journaled. Theroller is provided so as to support the end of the scoop when it isdropped, as shown more clearly in Fig. 2.

The scoop is held in normal raised position by lugs 18 which projectinward from the side rails 5. Preferably, these lugs 18 are hinged, at19, on brackets 20 which may be riveted, welded, or otherwise secured onthe side rails 5; the hinge arrangement being such that the lugs 18 mayswing up to vertical position, but not down lower than to a horizontalplane. By this arrangement, when the scoop is dropped and it is desiredto reset it to normal raised position, the toggle members 7 are pulledto normal outwardly bowed position, thereby bringing the side rails 5into normal parallel position, and the scoop is then raised until it ispast the lugs 18 which swing up out of the way. The lugs are thendropped back to horizontal position and the scoop is brought to restthereon.

In practice, the scoop may be mounted under the body of the ear or othervehicle, as the case may be, with only the bowed toggle membersprojecting in front; or, if desired, the entire device may project infront of the car or vehicle on which it is mounted. So, too, it isobvious that there are many other ways of mounting the device than bythe cross bar 1 and the bracket extensions 2. Also, instead of dependingupon the weight of the scoop a spring 21 may be coiled around the rod 12and arranged so as to bear on the cross bar 1 and the inner end of thescoop 14c to insure its dropping quickly.

A device constructed and arranged as herein set forth, is simple andautomatic in its action. The outwardly bowed toggle members 7 beingbrought forcibly against the body of a person, the rule joint will breakinwardly and as the members straighten the side rails will spread sothat the lugs 18 are released from under the scoop. The scoop, assistedby the spring 21,

is dropped so as to catch the person if he falls or is knocked down bythe impact.

To steady the side rails 5 in normal position, upstanding lugs 22 arepreferably provided on the transverse supporting bar 1 so that said siderails may be held thereagainst, as shown. These lugs 22 also keep theside rails from being pulled by the spring 10 closer together than theirnormal parallel position should the toggle members be swung inwardlypast dead center.

Obviously, the device admits of considerable modification withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention. Therefore, I do not wish tobe limited to the exact construction and arrangement shown.

I claim:

1. In a fender, a vertically-movable scoop hingedly supported at itsinner end, oppositely-disposed laterally-movable supporting membersmounted independently of said scoop and having means for releasablyholding the latter normally in raised position, yielding means forholding said supporting members in normal cooperative relation to saidscoop, and a yielding buffer located in front of said scoop and mountedindependently thereof, said buffer cooperating with said supportingmembers so as to effect their release from the scoop when said buffer iscaused to yield.

2. In a fender, a scoop hinged at its inner end so as to swingvertically, a pair of laterally-movable supporting members lo cated,respectively, on opposite sides of said scoop, said supporting membershaving means releasably engaging said scoop so as to hold it in raisedposition, and means for holding said supporting members in normalcooperative relation to said scoop, said means including a yieldingbuffer in front of said scoop having an operable connection with saidsupporting members so as to effect the release of said scoop when thebuffer is caused to yield.

3. In a fender, a scoop hinged at its inner end so as to swingvertically, a pair of supporting members located, respectively, onopposite sides of said scoop, said supporting members being pivoted toswing in a horizontal plane and having inwardly-pro jecting lateralmembers releasably engaging said scoop, and a yielding buffer in frontof said scoop having an operable connection with said pair of supportingmembers so as to move the latter away from said scoop and thereby effectthe release of said lateral members from said scoop when said buffer ismade to yield.

t. In a fender, a scoop hinged at its inner end-so as to swingvertically, a spring acting to move said scoop downward, a pair ofhorizontally-movable supporting members located, respectively, onopposite sides of said scoop, a spring connecting said supportingmembers and acting to move them toward each other, means on saidsupporting members releasably engaging said scoop, and a yielding butterin front of said scoop having an operable connection with said supportinmembers so as to spread them when the buffer is made to yield andthereby etl'ect the release of said scoop from its support on saidsupporting members.

5. In a fender, a scoop hinged at its inner end so as to swingvertically, a spring acting to move said scoop downward, a pair ofhorizontal supporting members located, respectively, on opposite sidesof said scoop, said supporting members being pivoted at their inner endsso as to swing horizontally and extending beyond the outer end of saidscoop, said supporting members having inwardly-projecting lateralmembers thereon releasably engaging said scoop, the outer ends of saidsupporting members being pivoted to the outer ends of a pair oftransversely disposed, outwardly bowed toggle members, said togglemembers being connected at their meeting ends by a rule oint adapted tobreak inwardly and whereby, when said toggle members are moved inward,said supporting members are swung away from each other so as to releasethe lateral members thereon from engagement with said scoop.

(3. In a fender, a scoop hinged at its inner end so as to swingvertically, a pair of supporting membes located, respectively, onopposite sides of said scoop so that the latter may swing between them,said supporting members having inwardly disposed extensions arranged andadapted to releasably engage and support the scoop in normal position,said extensions being capable of movement upward and permitting saidscoop to move above them, said supporting members being hinged so as toswing horizontally and extending beyond the outer end of said scoop, anda yielding buffer having an operable engagement with the outer endportions of said supporting members whereby the latter are held innormal position but are moved outwardly so as to release said scoop whenthe buffer is caused to yield.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

J O N H. JENKINS.

lVitn esses Louis F. WAGNER, JAMES It. JENKINS.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Gommissioner of Patents, Washington, 1). G.

